Frying Opposition; Silicon Sand; Arabian Dragon
Opinion Watch
Frying Opposition
The Pioneer in an Editorial has said that the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has boarded eight parties for its alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the immediate glue for them being the Women’s Reservation Bill. The daily turned spotlight on BRS greeting Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah in Hyderabad with “washing powder posters that cleanse corruption taint against the likes of Narayan Rane, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Suvendu Adhikari, Sujana Chowdhary and KS Eshwarappa”.
The Noida-based daily has charged the Opposition parties of seeking only a marriage of convenience, to cobble together an alliance, just to grab power, paying least heed to institutional reforms. It mentioned the ongoing raids of the investigative agencies, the CBI and ED, against the Opposition leaders.
Washing powder barb of the BRS and the Aam Aadmi Party is a creative take on what has been stated for a long time in the political circles that “the BJP is akin to river Ganga, and anyone who takes a dip comes out cleansed of all sins”. Corruption, therefore, is institutionalized in India. The Gangotri of corruption undeniably is politics. This requires deep surgery by surgeons sitting in parliament. But there are no signs of such a will among lawmaker to build a clean society.
Silicon Sand
The US has bailed out the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The Asian Age said that the 16th largest bank with $209 billion assets catered to the tech world. The daily, while noting that maverick Elon Musk is kin to bid for SVB, said that a big bank subsuming the failed institution will serve all stakeholders.
The daily pinned blame for the collapse on soaring interest rates. The daily wondered “are we wiser after the 2008 meltdown”, stressing that the US would have been better off with a “strict banking regulations” to deal with cascading effects of “casino capitalism”.
Central banks are exhibiting herd mentality in response to taming inflation. Rate hikes have taken Europe to recession and the US is knocking at the door of slowdown. Sadly, the Reserve Bank of India is also blindly copying the US Federal Reserve to kill the Indian growth story.
Arabian Dragon
While the US is wearing Ukraine blinkers in its war against Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping pulled out a diplomatic coup in the Arab world, bringing together Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Indian Express has said that the Chinese centrality in the Arab world must be worrisome for agile Indian diplomats, who had been rejoicing with I2U2 Quad grouping.
The Noida-based daily stated that Xi has emerged a peace deal maker, as the consequences of Saudi Arabia and Iran buring hatchets will play out in Yemen and Syria as well, which have been battered with civil wars for over a decade now.
India was busy with Raisina Dialogue when China sprung the surprise. Beijing is acting fast on diplomatic front and Central Asia conference is due in May. Indian diplomats have become talking heads, while Beijing steals the march.
About The Author
